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Guide to Ingredients
When we started making our own DIY toiletries and body care products, there was a big learning curve where we found ourselves becoming so much more aware of exactly what goes into the make-up of our necessities such as shower gels, toothpastes and soaps. We also started to realise how much of it you don’t need! There’s a lot of differing information on the internet, but we researched and experimented extensively to create the right recipes that we were happy with. So we’ve made this guide to the ingredients we use so you know exactly what is inside your products and help you if you’re interested in making your own products too! We are always learning more and so we also encourage you to do your own further research if you would like to know more about the soap-making world and what goes into these recipes.
The Stars of Our Soaps
The most frequently used ingredients found in our soaps and other products are listed here to explain why we chose to use them and the benefits they have for your body and mind.
Coconut Oil – One of the most common ingredients in our products, coconuts are truly the gift that keeps on giving. Used for many purposes around the world, including culinary and biofuel, when used in soaps it creates a great lather in all water types. As we ethically source all our products from reputable sellers, we are reassured that our coconut oil is farmed by human hands, fairtrade and grown organically in bio-diverse farms.
Shea Butter – This moisturising butter comes from the nuts of the shea tree, found mostly in West Africa. It’s a brilliant butter that is high in vitamins A and E, and has a strong combination of fats and acids that make it nourishing and conditioning without feeling oily or greasy.
Olive Oil – We use pure extra virgin organic olive oil to maximise the good benefits (anti-inflammatory and antibacterial) of this fantastic oil, traditionally the main ingredient needed to accompany the lye to make castile soap.
Sunflower Oil – This oil is high in conditioning properties for an even more moisturising bar, and can also help to make a more stable lather.
Argan Oil – Argan oil is grown from trees native to Morocco. It has very high levels of vitamin E which is why hair loves it so much, its fatty acids promote hydration in hair and reduce effects of damage.
Castor Oil – Castor oil is a great carrier oil for diluting essential oils into our recipes and when used as an addition to other soap ingredients it helps to create a thicker and creamier lather.
Essential and Fragrance Oils – Essential oils are distilled in a process involving steam that produces pure 100% natural extracts from the original plant. These will provide extra benefits in our products such as the lavender essential oil use in Moon Hares shampoo bar which can stimulate hair growth for thicker fast growing hair. Unfortunately, not all fruits and plants are able to be distilled into essential oils, and for these scents we use fragrance oils instead. For these oils, we always make sure to source the natural fragrance oils that are produced by extraction from the actual plants as opposed to synthetic oils that have been designed to mimic a smell but are a chemical compound not found in nature, and tend to have more artificial scent.
Aqua – Listed as aqua, scientific name H20, and more commonly known as water, we use filtered clean water for best results and so you know that there aren’t any nasty extras slipping in.
Other natural extras:
There other natural ingredients used in some of our products for various purposes, and with all these we like to know the source of them to ensure they are organic and fairtrade. These include raw honey as it is a humectant with antibacterial properties, and cocoa and cinnamon powders that contain antioxidants and smell amazing. All the exfoliants we use in our scrubs are natural, coffee and sugar are great for stimulation and removing dry skin, with coffee in particular for reducing inflammation and generating new skin cells. Sea salt is great for scrubs too and can provide relief on stiff and sore muscles, complemented by our powdered seaweed for its abundance of vitamins and minerals, particularly vitamin E which hydrates the skin.
The Green Alternatives
These are the ingredients you may be less likely to know about, or that sound bad or “unnatural” on the surface. Deep down they’re good guys too, and nothing we use harms the planet. Sometimes the safe synthetic option is better for the planet and humanity than the natural option using monocultural farming techniques.
Lye (Sodium Hydroxide) – You might know lye more commonly as caustic soda, an alkaline substance found in many homes for cleaning, particularly in dissolving grease. Traditionally, lye was produced by extraction from wood ashes and then used to make soap. We dissolve the lye in water and when added to the oils in our recipes it causes the chemical reaction of ‘saponification’, resulting in a soap bar with no traces of lye left in it. Lye is a necessary part of the process and soap could not exist without it!
Surfactant - Our shampoo bars contain no lye as the high pH and strength of soap can be damaging and drying to hair. Instead we use environmentally friendly ingredients to make solid shampoo out of natural oils and butters that clean and moisturise your locks. So rather than use soap to clean your hair, we use a surfactant aka the ingredient that removes the oil from hair thus cleaning it. In traditional shampoos, this surfactant would usually be a sulfate, such as the ominous sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) and sodium laureth sulfate (SLES), which you have probably heard of as being bad in some way. Regardless of what seems to be debunked claims of causing cancer, SLS uses palm oil in its production, and until there is a truly safe and certain way of ensuring sustainable palm oil production we would like to steer clear of this industry. Instead we use a combination of Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate and vegetable Coco Glucoside, a non-ionic bio-degradable surfactant derived from coconut oil and glucose. They are gentle cleaning products that work on hair and skin.
Preservative – Soaps are naturally preserving due to the higher pH, but any other products made with water are at risk without some kind of preserving agent. We therefore need to use something to make sure shampoo bars, body washes and lotions don’t grow bacteria or microbes that could be dangerous or cause mould on your products – especially when they are used in the humidity of the bathroom! Preservatives might seem like a bad word but there are environmentally friendly options that are naturally derived – you may see them in many products that call them selves “natural” or “self-preserving”. We use benzyl alcohol (another seemingly bad word!) which is naturally occurring in many fruits and plants (such as apples, strawberries and tea) and present in some essential oils (such as jasmine, rose and ylang-ylang). It is anti-fungal and anti-bacterial, and has even been used as a head lice treatment at 5%! We only need to use it as 1% of our recipes to make sure they will stay safe for use when kept properly.
Glycerin – Also known as glycerol, its a substance that is found in so many products in the cosmetics and toiletries industry for its wonderful attributes. It’s a humectant so it is super moisturising for the skin as well as great for building up a lather. In fact, it’s so good for the skin its even used medically to treat wounds, particularly burns due to its anitmicrobial and antiviral properties. And no need to worry, we used glycerine that is derived from vegetables so remains vegan and biodegradable.
Colours – Simplicity and purity of ingredients is important to us, but we do like to have fun and make exciting aesthetics too! Sometimes that means the addition of certain herbs, leaves or petals to jazz up the soaps and when it comes to colours there are a myriad of ways to achieve different looks.
After much searching for something safe for the environment, we settled on mica powder. Mica is a natural stone mineral with shiny flakes, and once ground into a powder it is shimmery and provides bold colours. We are aware of the ethical ramifications of both natural and synthetic mica and so source these products responsibly. We ensure our suppliers only provide synthetic mica made in lab when it is deemed safe and biodegradable, and natural mica must come with a guarantee that it has been sourced from a supply chain with safe working conditions and absolutely no child labour.
*As with all ingredients used in skincare products – we strive to make our products accessible to everyone and use products deemed appropriate for all skin types but unfortunately allergies do exist for some people. Always check for anything that you may be allergic to and we encourage you to do your own research if you are interested.
Some Key Facts:
- We do not use products that are tested on animals.
- Store products in a cool, dry place until ready to use.
- Bars are made cold pressed and cured for at least four weeks.
- The Soap Bars are packaged in compostable boxes and recycled paper.
- All our products have been safety assessed by a chartered chemist.
- Handmade soaps can differ from batch to batch.
- The appearance, size, shape, colour and texture of the soaps varies accordingly.
Vendors
We imagine a world where shoppers have easy access to exactly what is in the products they buy and can trace them back to where they came from, so we can all be informed consumers and feel confident that there is an ethical and cruelty-free route for all the ingredients and packaging from the earth to our hands. So here we include links to our vendors – chosen because they provide organic, traceable, fair-trade produce with information regarding their origins.